Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to a lid for a disposable container. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a lid having double parallel inner ribs for superior no leak sealing, an outer side wall lid gripping feature for additional protection against accidental spilling, a pronounced elevated sipping spout and a circular indented channel on top of the lid, allowing for stacking a beverage container over another lid covered container, with additional stability provided by the curved rear surface of the sipping spout.
Prior art disposable lids are known in the art. Generally, the lids are made from a thermoplastic molded or pressed member and are disk shaped. Generally at a proximal location of the disk shaped member, the lid will include an aperture for drawing liquid from the container, which is connected to the lid. Lids known in the art include an annular rim that fastens onto the periphery of a beverage container. However, the prior art lids are often deficient in that if applied in haste or if the container is bent it is easy to include a slight gap or tolerance defined between the periphery of the annular rim and the periphery of the beverage container. Once a user picks up the beverage container and attempts to drink from the container, the lid may become separated from the container and spillage may occur. Also, it is often difficult to quickly and accurately assess whether the lid is properly secured to the beverage container. In addition, the gap or tolerance between the periphery and rim will likely cause the lid to become completely dislodged from the container in the event a user accidentally spills the container, resulting in spillage of the contents therein. Thus, lids known in the art do not achieve a satisfactory sealing or fastening arrangement with the rim of a beverage container and are therefore prone to contributing to accidental spillage and leaking.
Also, when stacked, generally one on top of another, the stacked lids tend to become unstable and may fall to the ground. This causes a problem as the fall can cause the lids to become unsanitary and soiled. A beverage provider will generally throw the soiled lids, causing unnecessary waste.
If the lid includes an aperture that is defined too close to the annular wall of the lid, or to the proximal most location of the lid, the user's bottom lip will contact an irregular surface of the lid to draw from the aperture. Thus, this creates a poor surface from which to draw liquid and further promotes accidental spillage.
Finally, it is advantageous to stack multiple lid covered beverage containers on top of one another. However, the lids known in the art do not allow such usage without a high risk that the containers will topple.
Thus, there is a need for an improved lid that obviates these risks and overcomes other deficiencies in the prior art.